Tamil Nadu   

Sourashtra School makes rapid strides

PHOTO : S. JAMES

ALMA MATER: Sourashtra Girls Higher Secondary School in Madurai. —

MADURAI: If you are allowed to walk down memory lane, what would you prefer to remember: school days or college days? Old students and retired teachers of Sourashtra Girls Higher Secondary School at Anuppanadi here answer unanimously: “School days.”

“When I think of my school, my body shivers in happiness as it shaped my future as a doctor, a woman and instilled patriotism,” 62-year-old J. R. Vijayalakshmi, a former Director of Medical Education, fondly remembers.

“There is no word to express my feelings towards the school because it was a part and parcel of my life. I am extremely happy for I had witnessed the growth of the school from a small building to a sprawling, 10-acre campus,” says 86-year-old Mercy Peter.]

Mercy Peter, popularly known as Mrs. Peter, was the school’s first headmistress when it was functioning from a small building.

Perhaps, a unique feature of the school is that it has ensured a ‘happy feeling’ for both teachers and students for decades.

Established before Independence with the aim of educating girls of Sourashtra community, who were lagging behind in education, the school has grown by leaps and bounds.

At the first conference of Sourashtra community conducted here in 1945, the women’s wing stressed the need for establishing a high school exclusively for girls in the community.

Eminent community leaders like P. S. A. Krishnaier, K. M. S. Lakshmanier, K. M. S. L. Harilakshmi Ammal, P. K. Ramachary, P. K. R. Lakshmikantham, N. M. R. Subbaraman, N. M. R. S. Parvathavarthini, P. N. K. Subbaraman, M. K. S. Parvathavardhini and M. P. V. K. Sitabai made strenuous efforts in this direction.

They collected a sum of Rs.60,000 within a record two hours. Encouraged by the response, a committee for education of girls — christened ‘Sourashtra Girls Vidya Sangam’ — was founded with Lakshmanier as president and Lakshmikantham as secretary.

They left no stone unturned in achieving the goal of establishing a school exclusively for girls.

On July 1, 1947, the school was started with 400 students and seven teachers at Navabathkana Street.

In 1952, a batch of 13 girls appeared for SSLC examination. With a team of dedicated teachers led by Mercy Peter, the school continued to score centum results for a decade from 1965 to 1975. In 1978, it was upgraded as a higher secondary school.

Now, after 60 years of service, the school has over 2,000 girls students and 65 teachers. The institution teaches all children, says headmistress T.R. Geetha Saraswathy.

The school provides mid-day meal for Sourashtra students. Non-Sourashtra students, who constitute 50 percent of its strength, get noon meal provided by the Government.

Another unique aspect of the school is that all its headmistresses have won the State Government’s ‘Best Teacher Award.’

It started with Mrs. Peter who won it in 1975. Following her footsteps, P.S. Ramdevi, K.S. Gnanamani, M.V. Janaranjanibai and C. Andal bagged the award. The institution celebrates its diamond jubilee on Saturday.

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